Ndf / Since We Last Met + Ricardo Villalobos Remix

DFA

Bored with both rock and roll and his own name, ex-drummer STEVEN FORD released his debut 12-inch, a techno single titled Read Me/Silver City, under the pseudonym BRUNO PRONSATO in 2003. The response to that release, though overwhelmingly positive, was dwarfed by the critical praise heaped on its follow-ups: 2007’s Why Can’t We Be Like Us, which effectively established Pronsato as one of the most innovative and vital producers in dance music, and 2009’s groundbreaking The Make Up The Break Up, which further cemented his credentials as a visionary. NDF combines Pronsato’s talents with those of BENJAMIN MYERS (aka SERGIO GIORGINI), one half of BENOIT & SERGIO, whose rose-lensed debut EP, What I’ve Lost, was released through Pronsato’s thesongsays label. On their auspicious first outing, Since We Last Met, NDF offer music almost perfectly summed up in their own words as “dance music twilit by…melancholy.”  The A-Side track, which begins nearly fully formed—with handclaps, keys and a sparse, bassy percussive loop—is a roomy, wide-open construction of electronic pop. Sergio’s languid vocals echo outward into whispered descriptions of familiar post-romance scenarios. There are ghostly voices that hang ephemerally in the background, and a rippling percussive build through the song’s middle, but not a lot more. Instead of filling the track to its brim, NDF’s minimal, but studied, arrangements leave plenty of room for every element to breathe—and listeners to swoon. Side-B, notably, is a remix of the title track from superstar RICARDO VILLALOBOS. The famed producer elongates the single to nearly three times its original length. Villalobos’ rebuilt track starts as a nearly naked beat, with Sergio’s vocals layered into a haunting procession of blank-eyed repeated mantras. Villalobos adds here and there—carefully and slowly—a steady, unerring hand keeping things just so. Perfection through precision and subtlety. 

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